Beloved Land: Stories, Struggles, and Secrets from Timor-Leste
Description : Briskly written and deeply affectionate, the book introduces a set of colorful Timorese and international characters, and unforgettably brings them to life. At the stroke of midnight on May 20, 2002, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste became the first new nation of the 21st century. From that moment, those who fought for independence in the jungle and from the soapbox have faced a challenge even bigger than shaking off Indonesian occupation: running a country of their own. Beloved Land picks up the story where world attention left off. Blending narrative history, travelogue, and personal reminiscences based on four years of living in the country, it shows the daunting hurdles that the people of Timor-Leste must overcome to build a nation from scratch, and how much the international community has to learn if it is to help rather than hinder the process. In Timor-Leste, “small” does not necessarily mean “simple.” Family politics, squabbles, power...
